With one another and with oneself: -(ı)ş, -(ı)n and birbirine
English tells greet each other from get dressed by the words around them. Turkish splits the two senses with two different tails, and they must not be swapped. For example: “Komşularla her sabah selamlaşırız” — Every morning we greet the neighbors. A rule from the Turkish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English tells greet each other from get dressed by the words around them. Turkish splits the two senses with two different tails, and they must not be swapped.
-ış means doing it to one another: görüşmek, to see each other. From a noun it arrives as -laş: selamlaşmak, to exchange greetings. A verb like this always has several doers: Komşularla her sabah selamlaşırız.
-ın means doing it to yourself: giyinmek, to get dressed; soyunmak, to undress.
The trap is the verbs that have no mutual form at all. There you take a separate word, birbir-: birbirimizi tanıyoruz, we know each other.
Table
| the tail | the meaning | example | translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ış / -iş | to one another | görüşmek | to see each other |
| -laş / -leş | from a noun, mutual | selamlaşmak | to greet one another |
| -ın / -in | oneself | giyinmek | to get dressed |
| -ın / -in | oneself | soyunmak | to undress |
| -tır / -dır | to make, to bring together | tanıştırmak | to introduce |
| birbir- | “each other” by a word | birbirimizi tanıyoruz | we know each other |
By example
- Komşularla her sabah selamlaşırızEvery morning we greet the neighbors
- Havaalanında uzun uzun vedalaştıkAt the airport we said our long goodbyes
- Seni ablamla tanıştırayımLet me introduce you to my sister
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
With one another and with oneself: how does it work in Turkish?
English tells greet each other from get dressed by the words around them. Turkish splits the two senses with two different tails, and they must not be swapped.
What does it look like in an example sentence Turkish?
“Komşularla her sabah selamlaşırız” — Every morning we greet the neighbors. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.